Behind the Castle Armour
by Dev Castle
Summary: What if Esposito never talked to Beckett? What if Beckett left with Demming for the weekend and Castle went to the Hamptons alone? Would a case filled with conspiracy bring them back together? An AU version of the summer after Season 2.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

A steady click of heels echoed through the concrete ground as Detective Kate Beckett made her way towards the crime scene. She was pissed and it showed in the echo of her steps as this call had disturbed her much needed night off and ruined her perfect bath and add to it the unsettling feeling in her mind that has been nagging her for the past 2 weeks since she returned from her disaster beach weekend getaway. A part of her mind whispered that she has been feeling this way since Castle left for the summer and she had ignored it till now but the quiet was just getting too much. She had thought she would enjoy a little break from him, but just two weeks in 'the separation' as the boys had called it, she begrudgingly accepted she missed him. She missed his antics, his playful demeanour which he used to bring levity in the precinct's serious atmosphere and keep the people motivated. She had come to get a good read on him after working with him for almost two years. She still remembers the day she brought him in for questioning for the Tisdale murder, how excited she had been to finally get to talk to her favourite author and how disappointed she had been after the interview. But after spending practically two years with him she found that just like her he had a wall built around him, a wall made of the playboy and jackass facade to protect him from heartbreak just like her.

Shaking herself from her musings, she focused on the crime scene ahead of her and internally groaned when she spotted her new temporary partner, Demming. She had been surprised to say the least when Captain Montgomery had told her about his temporary transfer to Homicide and since her team was the only three Detective team Montgomery had no choice but to team them together with just a warning to act professional in the precinct in lieu of their romantic relationship. She had thought this partnership would be great for them but she soon found out that she was wrong, monumentally wrong. She soon found out that Demming was completely different from her, while she focused on getting closure for the victims and strive to see each case to the end, Demming focused on reducing case time, focusing on how quickly he could close a case not really caring about the victims. He didn't have the same drive she and her team members have and even though they had worked together before and connected, she found now it was only because they had the same line of thinking, a cop's way of thinking and he lacked the desire to think out the box ( _unlike Castle...SHUT UP_ ). To add to these it didn't help that Ryan and Esposito felt oddly betrayed with this decision and felt like she was replacing Castle which she had clearly denied but the looks where still there.

So yeah professionally her life was not good but comparing it to the disaster that her personal life was it felt like heaven. Things had been rough between her and Demming for the past week, the spark between them had vanished during the weekend. And add to the fact the constant unsettling feeling in her mind since Castle left has kept her constantly thinking about him told her a lot more about what or who she really wanted. She grimaced as she remembers how she and Demming had singled him out during the last couple of cases, how they had ridiculed him for his suggestions, ignored him in their theory building and played with his insecurities of not really belonging their since he wasn't a cop. It was like a switch had been flipped and she couldn't control her mouth but now realized it was her way to retaliate to him growing closer to her heart after her stay at his loft. She had panicked and pushed back, maybe a little too hard remembering his face when he found out about her lie and her awkward excuse and now he was gone and she missed him and was stuck with Demming as a punishment. Not that Demming noticed any of that and was still lost in the daydream of their perfect relationship. She pushed back the thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on the task at hand.

"What have we got?" Beckett asked Lanie now in all business mode.

"A bloody mess, that is what we have got; six gunshot victims spread out across the walk path."

"Six victims?" Beckett asked looking around the walk path her eyes falling on the body of a small girl near the juice stall.

"Yeah, six shots fired by a sniper from that parking garage over there," Ryan said pointing towards a building at a distance, "Espo took a couple of uniforms there for canvassing and we found this lodged in the juice container over at the juice stall," showing them a perfect bullet in a evidence bag.

"If he missed one shouldn't there have been seven shots?" Demming asked as he joined them.

"Well the fifth victim, a Bethany Stewart was running while carrying her child, the bullet probably hit her and went through to hit her daughter. She probably would have survived but in all the chaos, no one came to stop the bleeding and she bled out just when the first responders arrived," Ryan mentioned sombrely.

Taking charge of the situation Beckett said," Lanie you take the bodies to the morgue and start working on their preliminary reports, CSU has already combed through this area, Ryan you finish taking the witness statements and get the footage of all cameras around the crime scene and meet us at the precinct."

She turned around to find Demming in her personal space with a smile she thought was meant to be assuring but one look at his eyes could tell her that he didn't mean it. She took a step back and started walking back towards her car all the while hoping there was a different man trailing behind her.

* * *

She could feel the sombre atmosphere in the precinct as she stepped of on the Homicide floor. Six victims shot down by a sniper was a big thing. She was surprised the FBI hadn't stepped in yet. She walked towards her desk to find Esposito already putting the information they knew on the whiteboard. Sensing her approach he turned towards her and told her about the sniper's nest and shell casing he found there.

"I found a white Ford Transit with its plates removed leaving the garage around the time of the shooting in the surveillance footage and lab is working on the prints found on the shell casing."

Ryan stepped at that moment reading from his notes, "Witness reported the first shot at around 5:34 with the shots coming at a 2-3 second gap," he finished as Esposito let out a low whistle.

"That means the shooter was a professional or from a military background," Demming said getting 'well duh' look from the other Detectives just as Esposito's phone rang.

"Yeah..yeah...got it," Esposito said as he finished writing what was relayed," Lab got a match on the print, Edward Jennings former marine, was stationed in Afghanistan for two years and then recalled, no record so far. Lives in a studio apartment in Brooklyn."

"Let's go," Beckett said snatching the paper from his hands.

On the way to Brooklyn, Demming kept grumbling about why they couldn't take his car. Beckett had to fight to keep herself from snapping at him, but god was he getting on her nerves. She just decided to tune him out and thought about her actual partner. What would he think about this case. It was definitely different than a normal pop and drop. _Maybe they were all ex-CIA agents gone rogue or maybe they had national secrets or aliens Beckett_ , her Castle voice whispered. God she had a little Castle in her head, she couldn't help but shake her head as she thought what he would think about her thoughts. She was snapped out of her reverie as Demming pointed towards a white Transit parked outside the apartment block of their suspect. They made their way up the building with a SWAT team trailing behind them. They approached 504 and when there was no answer they barged in to find a man sleeping on a single bed and on the far side a work bench with .308 bullets and casings and five shells in a plastic bag along with all a reloading press and the sniper rifle.

As they arrested the half conscious man, Beckett had a feeling in the back of her mind that this was too easy. Demming strolled towards her with a smug smile and said, "See, I told you we make a great team."

She tightly smiled back but the feeling still remained.

* * *

Beckett looked through the two way mirror where Jennings sat at the interrogation table just staring and scratching the base of his right thumb oblivious to his surroundings. Beckett had sent Esposito in hope he could get something out of him owing to his military background but Jennings never broke just kept looking at his thumb.

A frustrated Esposito entered the observation room, "Nothing, I tried everything down to brother's in arms card but still nothing. It's been two hours and he just keeps scratching his thumb and looking good knows where."

"Beckett?" Montgomery prompted.

"I'm gonna take a crack at him," she stated moving towards the door of the observation room not noticing Demming following her. She was to focused to pay him any attention. As she sat down she saw Demming stay close to the door leaning against the two way mirror. She looked at Jennings and started spreading the crime scene photos on the table.

"You can see that we have enough evidence to tie you to the shooting. The DA is impatient and are itching to make this a terrorist case and hand you to homeland. Your only saving grace is to confess now and maybe the DA would go easy on you," she finished with sliding the notepad and pen towards him.

Jennings didn't say anything just picked up the offered pen and started writing. Demming smiled and started walking towards Kate but his smile faltered as he noticed what Jennings had written.

Picking up the notepad Beckett frowned and narrowing her eyes she asked, "Who the hell is Richard Rogers?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC**

 **A/N: I apologise for the late update, but my schedule doesn't allow me much time to get back to writing but I will try to keep this story alive. A couple of you guys asked in the reviews why Kate didn't recognise the name Richard Rodgers and the simple answer is in canon she finds out Castle's real name in Season 3 Episode 2 and this story is set in the summer between Season 2 and Season 3.**

* * *

 **Chapter** **2**

Holding his breadth he roved his eyes over the area, gauging his target's moving pattern.

His lips were a thin line and his jaw ticked every time he looked at the slippery bastard's beady eyes.

He tightened his grip on his weapon and struck while releasing his breadth.

WHACK!

The scoreboard lit up as Castle whooped, punching the hammer in the air after finally succeeding in striking the mole. He turned around carrying a big smile on his face, ready to share his enthusiasm only to realise his mistake. He was alone.

Sighing he looked back at his latest toy, an old Whack-a-mole arcade game that he had purchased last week while procrastinating with the help of his old friend the internet. He slipped the hammer back in its place, and switched off the game making his way to the kitchen to get something to fill his till now ignored stomach. Making himself a quick sandwich he decided to eat in his backyard so as to enjoy his lunch while admiring the ocean waves. Sitting down on the lounge chair he thought about the last 2 weeks and how good it had been for him so far except for one major flaw; he was lonely. He had thought a little quite summer retreat would do his writing good and it had since maybe for the first time in his career he was ahead of schedule. He had poured himself into writing in the initial week of his stay to stay true to his word to his daughter and also to keep his mind away from thinking about a certain brunette Detective. For a brief moment he thought about sending all his finished chapters to Gina and probably giving her a minor heart attack, but he quickly nipped the idea in the butt because knowing Gina she would only demand more owing to the fact that she might still be pissed that he had rebuffed her attempts at rekindling their personal relationship. He still thanked God for providing him much needed sanity at the last moment preventing him from inviting Gina along with him like she had hinted on their late night phone call 2 weeks ago.

He took out his phone once again to see his daughter had replied with an eye roll emoji to the photograph of his latest purchase. A small smile took over his face as his mind drifted to a familiar eye roll he had become familiar to in the past two years. Kate Beckett. He was always attracted to mysteries since he was a child and he had sensed a mystery about her when they first met, but by the end of the case he realised that she might be a mystery he would never be able to solve and he was hooked. When he had first started shadowing her many had told him it was a bad idea, even his daughter had her doubts but it was her mother who had encouraged him to go ahead after he had answered her single word question 'Why?' even though she knew the answer. His mother had seen that he was losing himself to his Castle persona and just like him she had come to a conclusion that the precinct just might be the life raft he needed. The precinct had been a new experience but somehow was still similar in many aspects. The sense of danger and the mysteries quelled long ignored hunger and getting justice for the families gave him purpose. He felt he had finally found a place that he belonged to, had finally earned his place when Beckett called him her partner. Thus it hurt when it all went down the drain when Demming showed up. Shaking his head to avoid his mind from wondering down that path he made his way inside dropping his plate in the sink as his phone started to ring.

"Castle."

"Bro, it's Espo. We need to talk."

* * *

He knew he had to make a call as soon as he heard the name leave Beckett's lips. Detective Javier Esposito had been keeping a secret. He knew who Richard Rodgers was, or in fact who he is after all you don't forget the guy who saved your life twice. He still remembered the day when his unit was pinned down during an op and if it hadn't been for Rodger's team he would have surely not made it. But that wasn't the only time he had saved him. When he had joined the army he knew he would end up hurting himself but he was prepared for that after all he was born and raised on the streets, but what he didn't count on was that war not only gives you physical scars but scars you emotionally too. He still remembered the long sleepless nights, how after keeping a brave face for his family during the day he only ended up to be haunted during the night, how every little noise or every little glint would lead him straight back to the battlefield. He was slowly dying but he was too stubborn to realise it until he met him again.

 _He had been waiting for his truck to get ready for over an hour now and he was getting restless. He didn't like to get out in the open, regardless of what he said to his family. He felt vulnerable, paranoid like a shot would ring out anytime now. He kept tapping his foot as he got wounded up until he couldn't take it anymore and stood up to give the manager a piece of his mind until he spotted a familiar looking man standing near the bubblegum machine with a little red haired girl. He watched as the man waved his arms around animatedly, shaking the machine so as to get a specific colour and the little girl giggled continuously at his antics. As if sensing he was being watched the man looked up straight at him and recognition immediately hit him. Esposito kept staring at Rodgers for a few moments trying to place the image of The bad ass SEAL he knew to this man who was practically dancing in a car garage. He watched as Rodgers stood up straighter and took a defensive position. Esposito started walking towards him and with his hands in clear view as not to spook him and asked,_

 _"Lieutenant Rodgers? You might not remember me, I'm Sergeant Javier Esposito, you saved my life a couple years back."  
_

 _Esposito watched as recognition dawned on him and his posture relaxed slightly as he spoke, "Of course Sergeant I remember. How are you doing?"  
_

 _"I'm good. Getting back home is great. Just getting in the nix of things," Esposito recited his well versed lines, lines he had said so many times that he himself started to believe them. But one look at Rodgers confirmed that he didn't buy it._

 _"Pumpkin how about you go take that seat while Daddy catches up with his old friend," Rodgers spoke to his daughter. Esposito watched as the little girl nodded and then with a smile and a wave at him went at the seat he had just vacated._

 _"How bad are they?" The question seemed to startle him. He thought about lying, deflecting even but something cracked and he answered truthfully for once, "They are bad."_

 _Nodding Rodgers took out a card from his wallet and handed it to him, "Call me if you wanna fight it." With that he turned and wished him a good day and left._

 _He had thrown the card as soon as he reached home cursing himself for his moment of weakness and decided to forget about the garage encounter but after another sleepless night he had caved and given a call and that's how he ended up here in a gun range of all places staring at a sniper rifle._

 _"It's just a tool," He startled and looked up to find Rodgers staring at him, "It's just a tool, nothing more. It's just a hunk of metal pieced together not a magical object that will harm you," he trailed off as he picked up the rifle and handing it to him. "I know what you're going through. You believe you are damaged goods and think that's a weakness. I say you make it a strength. It's a part of you, so use it," Rodgers finished as Esposito took hold of the sniper marking the start of a slow and long healing process._

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Esposito quietly slipped out of the observation room and made a call to his friend.

"Castle."

"Bro, it's Espo. We need to talk."

* * *

Something about Esposito's voice gave a bad feeling to Castle. And he immediately feared for the worse.

"Is everything Ok? Is it Beckett?"

"No, she is fine, but the situation here is serious. We caught a case yesterday night, a sniper gunned down six people."

"Yeah, I'm looking at it right now," Castle said as he flipped through the various news channels all covering the shooting, "Have you got any leads?"

"We have a suspect in custody, but he isn't saying anything and is specifically asking for you."

Frowning Castle asked, "He would only talk to Richard Castle?"

"No, he would only talk to Richard Rodgers."

Immediately his whole body tensed, "Who is he?"

"His name is Edward Jennings, ex-marine, Do you know him?"

Rubbing at his temples Castle answered, "Yeah, I helped him get settled in normal city life a couple years back at Rob's request."

"Can you give me any details that might help me, any close relatives, friends I could talk too."

"I wish I could, but the guy was a recluse, kept to himself most of the time. That was actually one of my main goal when dealing with him. To get him to open more," Castle sighed as he heard Esposito curse, "What's your next move?"

"Well knowing Beckett and her current mood she is gonna run your name down immediately and try to find your every last life detail, but knowing you and how protective you are she would end up with nothing thus ruining her mood even more."

"Yeah," came Castle's muffled reply as his voice is drowned by the loud cold start of his Ferrari.

"Castle what are you doing?"

"I'm coming back."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you guys for your amazing response and I apologise in advance for the irregular updates in the future. Merry Christmas.**


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